On Translation Of English Euphemism From Skopostheorie

Euphemism is both a language phenomenon and a cultural phenomenon, which isused everywhere in all countries and human interactions. Euphemism is anindispensable part of language and a figurative use of language. As the economicglobalization, intercultural communication is increasingly improved, and more andmore euphemism translation appears, either in written or spoken form. Not only caneuphemism translation bring novel words and vitality into target language, but alsoshow different culture and thinking modes. In this way, cultural gap is narrowed, andinternational and intercultural communication is improved. Although the significance ofeuphemism translation is such profound, it is not easy. Based on other studies oneuphemism, the thesis will try a new perspective of functional translation theory:Skopostheorie to investigate English euphemism translation with a hope to find a newguiding theory.Skopostheorie is put forward by Hans Vermeer, one of the main representatives ofGerman functional translation theory, which gets rid of the bondage ofsource-text-centered equivalence theory. Skopostheorie, the fundamental theory offunctionalism, states that translation strategy is decided by translation purpose, and thatthe source text only plays a part of providing information. In order to adapt to newcommunicative context and target readers’ needs, translators’ reference should not besource text and its functions which are stressed in equivalence theory, but thecommunicative function a translation version is expected to achieve in the targetlanguage context.By analyzing the collected euphemism translation examples, from the perspectiveof each principle of Skopostheorie: Coherence rule, Fidelity rule and Skopos rule, it isfound that Skopostheorie could be used to guide euphemism translation. And sometranslation strategies are suggested. Coherence rule refers to something that atranslation itself should be coherent and be understood by target language readers who have target language communicative background and knowledge background. ByCoherence rule, the thesis analyzes euphemism translation examples from cultural,syntactic, rhetoric and pragmatic perspectives respectively, and finds that thetranslations are coherent and acceptable. Next, Fidelity rule means that the target text isproduced according to the information offered in the source text, and bears some kindof relationship with the source text. The thesis analyzes euphemism translationexamples taken from practical text, literature and interpersonal dialogues, and finds thatthe translations bare some relationship with source text and complies with Fidelity rule.Lastly, Skopos rule tells that a translation is decided by its purpose. One euphemismwill produce different translation versions for different target language readers, differenttimes and different intentions. Based on the above analysis, a conclusion is drawn:Skopostheorie could be used to guide euphemism translation and provides a moreextensive horizon. Different text types: informative text, expressive text and operativetext have different functions. Different strategies and methods should be adopted toproduce a translation version with corresponding purpose. Based on Skopostheorie,some strategies of euphemism translation are suggested.